Classless Earl Strickland

Honestly.

I think Earl has a mental condition, not trying to make a joke, I am serious, and I am big critic of Earl and his behavior, but I have met him 20+ years ago and he was nothing like he is now. Sure, he had the "fire" to win, but he always acted professionally around me at that time.

I have heard stories about "piles of drugs" on pool tables, but I never seen Earl partake, or even be around drugs. I have seen folks that were "toast" after doing drugs and Earl, IMO, reminds me of those folks.

Its sad, it really is. At one time he had it all, married (I think to a doctor), tons of sponsorships, and was pretty much the favorite to win any tournament he entered.

So, lets give the guy a break, he has earned it. I just wouldn't let him enter any tournament that I was associated with in any way.

Ken
 
Earl

I was at BCA last year and dropped in on a room where they were doing exhibitions for the kids. They had Dechaine and Earl. My first thought was "What on earth were they thinking" of course he wasn't playing anyone so the switch didn't get flipped but I was a little worried. He whined a little bit about 8 ball being too easy for pros and they should remove the side pockets but the kids didn't really pay attention so he just moved along. Crisis averted but I am sure there were 20 other guys that would have enjoyed doing it and that BCA wouldn't have to worry about.
 
When all the fun leaves, it's time to move on to something else. The problem is, Earl has nothing else to move on to.

(edit) I've read that he is bi-polar. That is a terrible affliction. We all feel for a guy in a wheelchair, and we all should feel for a guy with mental difficulties.
 
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pwd72s said:
When all the fun leaves, it's time to move on to something else. The problem is, Earl has nothing else to move on to.

(edit) I've read that he is bi-polar. That is a terrible affliction. We all feel for a guy in a wheelchair, and we all should feel for a guy with mental difficulties.
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Where have you read that he is bipolar? From us armchair experts?
 
Grantstew said:
Earl was at the Hangelar Open the weekend just past. I have to say, he has gone down massively in my estimation.

1. Constantly complaining about nothing
2. Complaining that the crowd are respecting his opponents, not him (Blatantly untrue)
3. Calling his opponent a little retard on several occasions while he was being beaten by a 17 year old Dutch kid.
4. In between he did nothing to justify his appearance fee, no mingling, just walked around on his own with a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle.
5. When he got beaten, his opponent extended his hand, and Earl put his fingers in his ears.

Anyway, **** him, he got kicked out last 32. May be a great pool player, but is a absolute train wreck of a person...

Maybe he wasn't always like this, but this is what I saw at the weekend.

BTW. The other special guest was Efren, he sat and played chess with people, very cheery and approachable. He acted like an ambassador to the sport rather than a whiney little biatch.
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This is the Earl we have known for the last 15 plus years, a complete moron with severe mental issues. He needs to stay on his meds and stay away from pool tournaments. I hate seeing him at any tournament I'm working, because I know I will have problems with him before long.
 
jay helfert said:
This is the Earl we have known for the last 15 plus years, a complete moron with severe mental issues. He needs to stay on his meds and stay away from pool tournaments. I hate seeing him at any tournament I'm working, because I know I will have problems with him before long.
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Jay, I don't know how you deal with Earl at a tournament... it must be a three martini
lunch, handling his outbursts. Really needs some meds, indeed.

I saw him narrowly beat SVB after whining and b***ching the whole match, and then the
"used car salesman smile" came out... so bizarre.

Check this out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/n...ayers-teaches-at-a-queens-pool-hall.html?_r=0
 
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Bonus Ball was enough to push anyone over the edge, I have a 100 on Jeremy.

Just watching it I want to fight with someone, you want to tie a rope around your neck.
 
SmoothStroke said:
Bonus Ball was enough to push anyone over the edge, I have a 100 on Jeremy.

Just watching it I want to fight with someone, you want to tie a rope around your neck.
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Yeah, Earl don't want any of Jeremy... that wouldn't be pretty.
 
Ken_4fun said:
So, lets give the guy a break, he has earned it.

Ken
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No, he is an a-hole, and too many people keep giving him a break and he keeps on being an a-hole. You get what you ask for. It is hilarious that someone could come on here and say how they weren't aware of how he is so disrespectful of his opponents. Probably didn't have a clue because too many "give the guy a break".
 
Grantstew said:
Earl was at the Hangelar Open the weekend just past. I have to say, he has gone down massively in my estimation.

1. Constantly complaining about nothing
2. Complaining that the crowd are respecting his opponents, not him (Blatantly untrue)
3. Calling his opponent a little retard on several occasions while he was being beaten by a 17 year old Dutch kid.
4. In between he did nothing to justify his appearance fee, no mingling, just walked around on his own with a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle.
5. When he got beaten, his opponent extended his hand, and Earl put his fingers in his ears.

Anyway, **** him, he got kicked out last 32. May be a great pool player, but is a absolute train wreck of a person...

Maybe he wasn't always like this, but this is what I saw at the weekend.

BTW. The other special guest was Efren, he sat and played chess with people, very cheery and approachable. He acted like an ambassador to the sport rather than a whiney little biatch.
Click to expand...

sounds like earl had one of his better days.

hes a disgrace to the game
cant believe people pay him to show up anymore
 
Grantstew said:
Earl was at the Hangelar Open the weekend just past. I have to say, he has gone down massively in my estimation.

1. Constantly complaining about nothing
2. Complaining that the crowd are respecting his opponents, not him (Blatantly untrue)
3. Calling his opponent a little retard on several occasions while he was being beaten by a 17 year old Dutch kid.
4. In between he did nothing to justify his appearance fee, no mingling, just walked around on his own with a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle.
5. When he got beaten, his opponent extended his hand, and Earl put his fingers in his ears.

Anyway, **** him, he got kicked out last 32. May be a great pool player, but is a absolute train wreck of a person...

Maybe he wasn't always like this, but this is what I saw at the weekend.

BTW. The other special guest was Efren, he sat and played chess with people, very cheery and approachable. He acted like an ambassador to the sport rather than a whiney little biatch.
Click to expand...

I just love these posts. Why? Cuz I have always hated Earl.

He SHOULD be appreciative by now, what he has a place to play at Steinway (and
a small stipend salary from what I heard), he has someone selling his products/toys,
and he has the opportunity to erase some of the craziness he has created in past times
by merely acting like a gentleman now.

But f*** no! He acts like a complete a**hole whenever he feels it suits him.
His legacy is gone as far as I'm concerned.
With all due respect to his friends and family, the sooner he checks out, the better. :cool:
 
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Runner said:
Funny, I was going to start a thread about Earl...

The above linked Bonus Ball video pretty much sums it up... Earl is going to wind up walking around downtown NY penniless, holding a cue and yelling at everyone, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??"

I think he is ADD, or something close... there's a switch that gets thrown, and once it does, that's it, he's off. There's a little 'persecution syndrome' thing going on too..."They're All Against Me"...

I watched Earl warming up for a match in SoCal, doing his extreme draw shots... he made a power draw, turned around to everybody watching, and yelled "DID YOU SEE WHAT I JUST DID??"

It's a shame really... Earl in his heyday was the most feared 9 baller ever, IMO.
His high gear was unreal... crush the break (with his player cue), two stroke every ball, perfect shape. Now he's just a complainer, the other guy's rolls, the table, the balls, the sound system, the crowd.
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He's ALWAYS been a complainer, Runner. Watch his old videos. They might be more subtle, but they're there.
 
Earl has always been a classless POS.
I used to play him at times back in Houston, I still live there.
And he has ALWAYS be a disgrace to this game and still thinks
he's God's gift to this game when in fact he's done the game little
other than disservice.
The guy is a joke and rude and arrogant.
Then he goes on Facebook and acts like he's the greatest.
Today his game is slightly higher than the average bar player.
 
Ken_4fun said:
So, lets give the guy a break, he has earned it.
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No, in my opinion Earl has earned the exact opposite of giving
him a break.
He deserves that people talk about him like he truly is.
Rude, arrogant, self centered, whining a--hole.
On top of that he is always complaining.
It's either than he doesn't like the audience, cues, balls shot
clocks - too slow too fast, organizers, humidity, temperature.......
it's no wonder people call him Earl The Girl.
Even that is belittling to girls because no girl complains that much.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
He does this everywhere he goes. He seems to be an equal opportunity offender, in that he treats almost everyone equally badly. Everyone who's seen him in action tell the same tale. Doesn't matter if you are Nick Van Den Berg or a teenager at an exhibition, you have a good chance of receiving some verbal abuse from Strickland, so you'd better come prepared for that. That is no excuse for this kind of behavior, but everyone pretty much knows this by now.
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Not always though. I've seen both sides. His bad side is not pretty and comes out more and more it seems. He can be very personable though and I like the way he will give honest assessments and often gives credit where credit is due.

Pretty old topic though and you get the idea by now. He definitely can be quite unpleasant at times.
 
the crowds always flock to his table at every tournament ive seen him at.

Strickland has been the source of some very entertaining threads on AZ.
here is a classic
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=71664
more
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=34400
more
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=138642

Ive told this story I think on AZ. Maybe or maybe not. Im getting senile over thousands of posts.

Earl is playing in Cape Coral at Diamonds. The same place that guy drove a truck through a few months ago. Hes playing Johnathan Pinegar (hennessee) and at one point Henny says that Earl is sharking him. Which of course with Earl constantly yapping away when its his shot and sometimes when its not, its probably true, but I cannot remember if Earl was really talking or not. It was a critical time in the match though and Henny was obviously bothered by earl. So Earl says basically what was I doing??? and Henny says I can see you out of the corner of my eye when im shooting! and Earl says what?? starts going off. Next shot Earl has he comes to the table and as he gets down to shoot he switches to a cuestick on the rail one handed shot and holds his other hand up to his head like a one sided horse blinder and says "I cant see you" to Henny and then proceeds to shoot. Makes the ball and goes around and again gets down and puts his hand up to the side of his head and fires in another shot one handed and says "still cant see you!". The crowd of course is cracking up and then Earl turns to the crowds and starts this extended dialogue about how in the end he is going to be the bad guy. People will say that Earl Strickland...what a bad guy. He turns and approaches the tables, gets down and then gently hits the cueball it and rolls forward like two inches and he turns and says there....how about that? Am I still the bad guy? This was with Henny on the hill. Earl broke his cue down and the match was over. He left Diamonds soon after.
 
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